Mashud's debut hundred was vital in leading Bangladesh to a draw. Had he fallen early on day 5, it would have been trouble for his team.

In my estimation, the Man Of The Match in the first test should have been Mohammed Rafique.

Not only did Rafique score a good hundred in the first inning, batting at #9 but he also delivered with the ball, taking 3 wickets. His wicket haul included Chanderpaul and Smith.

How will centurions Mashud and Rafique cope on the faster Jamaica wicket in the second test ?

Can Bangladesh make 150 on that wicket ? I am curious to read your responses.

:fanflag:

rafiq

June 2, 2004, 12:12 PM

OK, mujibur I couldn't sleep all last night as I was thinking about your queries. These questions are of the utmost importance and I am glad you have asked them. This morning, I checked with the crystal ball I have hidden in the attic. This is what the crystal ball told me, I kid you not:

1. All previous Bangladeshi centuries, with the exception of Bashar, have been scored by batsmen with "meager averages" so the exact answer to your question is:

119 Javed Omar v Pakistan at Peshawar, 2nd Test, 2003

The Oxford Cricket Dictionary defines "meager average" as "any average less than 25.00" and as such all centurions other than Bashar can correctly be described as having "meager averages".

2. Centurions Rafique and Mashud will face an older ball at Sabina Park in the first innings and will score 34 and 7, respectively.

They will fare better in the second innings and will score 55 and 12, respectively. Both will have to negotiate a new ball as Bangladesh will have a long second innings, defying expectations. Centurion Rafique's (we will from now on refer to him in this manner) negotiations with the new ball will lead to increased calls for him to open ODIs from banglacricket.com members. BC purists will pooh-pooh the idea.

3. Bangladesh will not make 150 in the first innings. They will be all out for 147 despite Centurion Rafique's 34. Bangladesh will score much, much more in the second innings - I cannot disclose the exact number of runs at this time as we must not demoralize our West Indian friends before the match even begins.

I hope this puts your mind to ease for now.

:)

[Edited on 2-6-2004 by rafiq]

sujon

June 2, 2004, 12:57 PM

one thing for sure, pilot is the fighter in our team. he stood on his feet in countless times when we were in bother.

Mujibur

June 2, 2004, 02:32 PM

Rafiq:

If you ever choose to part with that Crystal ball of yours, rather than auctioning it off on Ebay, I would be most willing to pay you a handsome premium for it.

I could not have agreed more with the wonderful and seemingly accurate prognostications of that crystal ball.

:fanflag:

billah

June 2, 2004, 04:06 PM

Rafiq bhai, marhaba, lajawab, keya baat hai. Now, please accept Mujibur's offer. I would love to supply you with more of them things.:P

EngWIndian

June 2, 2004, 04:28 PM

Originally posted by sujon
one thing for sure, pilot is the fighter in our team. he stood on his feet in countless times when we were in bother.

i agree, he took some serious blows from Tino and Edwards, but still he stood up and batted on. Its a shame his century did not go for a winning cause.

Of all the pitches, only the SAfrican pitch is comparable. But one must take his with a grain of salt - this was his comeback match after being out in the wilderness for over 2 years. This was in the 2002/03 tour and he had last played for Bangladesh in its First ever Test v India in 2000/01.

On the other hand, his economy rate is remarkable in being between 2.3-2.6 range at all the matches (SA is an outlier).

He may yet get wickets (for himself, or the other bowler) by getting batsmen tied down and goading them into impatient shots.

As for batting, he has been showing more and more heart - his ability is much more than what his average shows.

[Edited on 3-6-2004 by Zunaid : tpyoes]

deshibhai

June 3, 2004, 02:30 AM

Here is a quote from Khaled Masud in today's Daily Star:

-----begin quote:
Mashud revealed he played mind games with the West Indian fielders.

"I always keep myself calm in the middle by talking and cracking a joke or two with the opposing fielders. The West Indies players also get easy with me knowing me. That worked in my favour.

"As for the hundred, I just told myself that I had a job to do and was more focused on seeing the team to safety."
-----end quote----------------

I do not know if Masud's attempts to "play mind games with" the West Indies players actually had any effect on them, but what I found very encouraging about the above was that Masud felt he was mentally on top. This is something new for Bangladeshi players--in the past, they've been more used to being mentally reactive, rather than proactive...defensive, rather than in the driver's seat. Regardless of whether you actually manage to mentally outwit the opponent, if you can reasonably feel that you are doing so, you have won half the battle. Both in batting and in bowling, cricket is all about mentally outwitting the opponent--and every little tool you develop to help you do that is yet another armament in your arsenal.

Very encouraging, imho.

[Edited on 3-6-2004 by deshibhai]

crickwizard

June 3, 2004, 02:38 AM

is it worth to reply sagol marka question if BD can score 150 at Sabina park? Didn't some mental asked question abt what would be BD score in first test when BD scored only 161 against WIXI? This is cricket Stupid, any team can score as low as 50 (WI scored 47 few weeks ago on this very field). If you can't bear the sprite of first test, don't whine here and cause nuisance

Orpheus

June 3, 2004, 03:01 AM

cricwiz....

I am just glad I enjoyed this post before its deletion :)
... LOL

must be side effects of the drugs!

[Edited on 3-6-2004 by Orpheus]

Mujibur

June 3, 2004, 09:54 AM

Zunaid:

The Mujibur handle will soon be banned by Mr. Rajputro---he is very irritated at Mujibur.

Anyway, before I am banned I wish to inform you that spinners have also done well at the Sabina park wicket in the past.

I remember WI spinner Perry spinning the WI to victory against Australia a few years back.

And against SA in 2001, WI spinner Ramnarine helped the WI win a match.

The West Indies will do well in their first inning----if Bangldesh can keep things close in the first inning they will have a shot.

The WI has a proclivity for folding in their second inning.

If Bangladesh can score 225 in their first inning----it will be a good match for them.

Once again, Rajputro has threaten to ban Mujibur.

Good luck friends. It was nice posting here.

[Moderator: deleted]

:fanflag::fanflag::fanflag:

[Moderator comment: Name calling just exhausts any amount of good-will we may have had]

Originally posted by crickethorizon
whts wrong with u buddy?
u don like peace or something?

WELL EVERY MEMBER OUT HERE DOES!!!:mad:

CricketHorizon:

I just posted that the Sabina Park wicket has assisted spinners in the past and that ought to bode well for Bangladesh's spinners.

DO YOU CARE TO MAKE A CRICKET RELATED COMMENT IN THIS THREAD ?

Are you folks serious about cricket ?

May Bangladesh win her first test match soon.

:fanflag::fanflag::fanflag:

Ahmed_B

June 3, 2004, 10:38 AM

Originally posted by Mujibur
DO YOU CARE TO MAKE A CRICKET RELATED COMMENT IN THIS THREAD ?

Are you folks serious about cricket ?

May Bangladesh win her first test match soon.

:fanflag::fanflag::fanflag:

Nops!!:P
right now i think, like me, many of us are seriously more concerned about u!!.. u r putting up quite a show man!;)

u urself hav been posting completely wayward comments in ur own post!!:P
even calling decent guys on names!!:duh:
so lets say... for now... i will hav my lences focussed on you and just you.. no more cricket..!..
lets enjoy the 'tribal' dance!;)

Originally posted by Beamer
If habibul wins the toss, we should field first in Sabina Park. If lara wins, I believe he will do the same and make us bat.

im not sure, on this pitch, you wouldn't want to bat last, there will be more un-even bounce as the test goes on.

[Edited on 3-6-2004 by EngWIndian]

Beamer

June 3, 2004, 12:00 PM

maybe true about the uneven bounce on a wearing fourth innings pitch. But, I think, the first innings score, who ever bats first, will dictate the outcome of this game in sabina park. From our perspective, since we are not accustomed to such a pitch, we should field first and try to prevent them from scoring a big innings and go from there. If we bat first and get booked below 200, this game will be over in four days. I hope the tigers prove me wrong if they bat first.

EngWIndian

June 3, 2004, 12:09 PM

If we bat first and get booked below 200, this game will be over in four days.

believe it or not, around 200 may not be a bad total.

I hope in this test EVERYONE contributes to the total, I dont want to see ONE batsman scoring all the runs, instead of Gayle making a hundred, would rather see all top 7 players score around 40-50. And I know you all would like the same for BD.